Letter: Acknowledge elephant in room

Published 7:55 pm, Saturday, December 29, 2012

With every act of insane killing, we recycle the same divisive posturing. We've regulated firearms and their possession. But nothing really changes.

Why? Gun sales have grown exponentially since 2002 and this reflects an obvious trend in public opinion.

According to a 2011 Gallup poll, 73 percent of Americans oppose handgun bans. The General Accounting Office reported this past July that the number of people carrying firearms is skyrocketing. A total of 49 states approve concealed carry of firearms, and the 50th will soon. The FBI consistently reports violent crime drops since the '90s, and it is now at a 40-year low. Also according to Gallup, gun ownership by women is at a new high, and a majority of households run by someone over 30 possess a firearm. National background checks have increased 54.1 percent from 2002 to 2011, and there have been more than 10 million checks for gun sales annually since 2006, growing to 16.8 million this year. Clearly, the will of the people is driving a massive demand for firearms, and it's growing.

Why is demand so high and the desire for more gun bans so low?

It is because our leaders ignore the elephant in the room: Mental illness and the failure to report this to authorities.

Virtually all mass shooting are committed by people with mental health histories. Many have histories of using psychotropics, antidepressants and other drugs that are associated with alarming rates of homicidal/suicidal ideation from chronic use. Think Columbine.

If regulating firearms doesn't work, isn't it time that we tried enforcing a strict requirement that mental health providers, schools and colleges, as well as medical doctors who prescribe any psychotropic drugs, report their diagnoses to a central registry maintained by the FBI? That would identify dangerous people who should not have access to firearms.